Saturday, January 3, 2009

Baltimore, Md. - Junior Muhammad El-Amin (Lansing, Mich.) scored 19 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 3:40 remaining, to lead the Stony Brook University men's basketball team to a 69-61 victory over defending conference champion Maryland-Baltimore County on Saturday night at the RAC Arena. Stony Brook improves to 8-5 overall and 1-0 in the America East while UMBC falls to 6-7 and 0-1."We played with great energy tonight and were able to make enough plays down the stretch to get a win against a terrific UMBC team," Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said.The America East Player of the Game, El-Amin knocked down a three with the score knotted at 54 to start an 8-0 run that sealed the Seawolves third straight victory. El-Amin shot 8-for-14 from the field for the game for the Seawolves, who shot a season-high 56.5 percent from the field.Freshman Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) added 19 points for Stony Brook, including a terrific 5-for-6 from three-point range. Darryl Proctor posted a double-double (26 points, 10 rebounds) for UMBC, who dropped its second straight game.Stony Brook took control at the start, going on a 17-2 run after Matt Spadafora scored the first basket of the game. El-Amin scored three hoops in the run and also fed freshman Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) for a thunderous fast-break dunk that forced UMBC to take its second timeout of the first seven minutes. Brenton finished with four points in addition to grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.The Seawolves lead would grow to as much as 14, at 20-6, on a three from Dougher before the Retrievers went on an 8-2 run to cut the Seawolves lead to eight with 7:05 left in the half. El-Amin pushed the SBU advantage back to double-digits with a long three from the right side and Dougher followed with his third three of the half to push the SBU lead back to 14 with just over four minutes remaining in the period.

UMBC scored six of the final nine points of the half to send the Seawolves into the break up 31-20. El-Amin scored 13 first half points for the Seawolves, while Dougher added 11. Proctor scored a team-high eight points in the first half for the Retrievers, who shot just 30 percent (9-for-30) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.The Retrievers came out of the break hot, scoring 11 of the half's first 13 points to cut the Seawolves lead to two with 16:54 remaining in the game. Junior Desmond Adedeji (Landover Hills, Md.) stemmed the tide though, sandwiching back-to-to-back hoops around two Proctor free throws to put SBU up four. UMBC would close to within two on a Fry jumper but sophomore Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) answered with a twisting shot in the lane and El-Amin followed with a three-point play to put the Seawolves up 42-35 with 13:35 remaining.Stony Brook's lead would grow to as much as 11 after back-to-back Dougher three-pointers but the Retrievers stormed back with a 13-2 run to tie the game at 52 with just over six minutes remaining. Adedeji ended the run with a jump hook in the lane but Proctor answered with a jumper on the other end to tie it at 54.The Seawolves return to action on Monday, Jan. 5, traveling to take on Binghamton in a game that will be on WUSB and televised live on MSG+. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

United States Air Force Academy, Colo. - Freshman Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) scored a team-high 22 points, including two clutch free throws with eight seconds left, as the Stony Brook University men's basketball team upset the Air Force Falcons, 67-64, on Wednesday afternoon at Clune Arena. Junior Muhammad El-Amin (Lansing, Mich.) added 20 points for the Seawolves who improved to 7-5 with the victory, their best start since joining Division I in 1999. Air Force falls to 9-4 with the loss."I couldn't be prouder of my team and the heart we showed," Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell. "This [Clune Arena] is a very difficult place to play and our kids never lost their composure. We were terrific on the defensive end all day and made the plays we needed to make down the stretch."The America East Player of the Game, Dougher scored 15 of his 22 in the second half including a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Senior Demetrius Young (Sacramento, Calif.) added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Seawolves, who out-rebounded the Falcons 35-23.Air Force, which entered the game with a 75-7 record at Clune Arena since the beginning of the 2002-03 season, had trimmed an eight-point Seawolves lead to one with 10 seconds left on a Taylor Stewart lay-up, but SBU got the ball into Dougher who calmly knocked down both free throws to push the Stony Brook lead back to three. The Falcons then worked the ball to Matt Holland who missed long on a contested three-pointer as time expired.The Seawolves were sharp at the start, holding the Falcons without a field goal for the first 3:17 as they jumped to a 3-0 lead behind a basket from freshman Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) and a free throw from freshman Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.). Holland finally got Air Force on the board, knocking down a three-pointer to tie the score at 3.

SBU would grab a 7-5 lead after back-to-back hoops from junior Desmond Adedeji (Landover Hills, Md.) before Grant Parker drilled a three-pointer to give the Falcons a 8-7 advantage with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half. The Seawolves trailed by just one at 10-9 after a jumper from El-Amin midway through the half, but Air Force scored five straight points to take a six-point advantage.Stony Brook came right back, getting a three-point play from El-Amin and three-pointer from Dougher to tie the game at 15. The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes before El-Amin knocked down a three to give SBU a 26-23 lead with 2:23 remaining in the half. Parker hit a jumper in the lane with 38 seconds left to cut the Seawolves lead to one going into the break.El-Amin scored a game-high 10 points in the first half for the Seawolves, who turned the ball over just three times in the opening 20 minutes. Anwar Johnson scored a team-high eight points in the first half for the Falcons who shot 56.3 percent (9-for-16) in the opening period.Dougher nailed a three just one minute into the second half to push the Seawolves lead to four but the Falcons ran off nine straight points to take a 34-29 lead with 15:06 remaining. But SBU would not go away, answering with a Joyner tip-in and an El-Amin three to tie the score at 34.The Falcons grabbed the lead back on a Parker three but Stony Brook responded with six straight points to regain a three-point advantage. Air Force would jump back on top on an Evan Washingon hoop but Brenton hit a twisting jumper in the lane to give SBU the lead. Johnson came back with three straight free throws to put the Falcons up two before Joyner knocked down two free throws to knot the score at 44 with 7:18 remaining.SBU then sandwiched a pair of three-pointers from El-Amin and Dougher around two free throws from Johnson to go up four with just over four minutes remaining. The lead would eventually grow to eight on two free throws from Dougher with 1:02 remaining before the Falcons went on a 12-5 run to cut the Stony Brook lead to one with 10 seconds left on the Steward lay-up.The Seawolves will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 3, traveling to take on defending conference champion UMBC in their America East opener. Game time is set for 7 p.m.